Doves. Long regarded as the symbol of peace, love and purity. Messengers who bear good tidings and even considered sacred by some cultures. Even John Woo uses them to make action scenes more intense.
Now, we have drones disguised as these magnificent creatures to spy on unsuspecting people.
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Last updated on 2022-07-07
Bird poop the least of your worries
If you live in China and happen to see a flock of birds flying overhead, be aware that big brother might be watching you. The Chinese government and military has been using bird-like drones to conduct surveillance on it’s citizens for a couple of years. These drones, equipped with flapping wings and high-tech flight and navigational systems have been deployed in several provinces.
Most notably, in the Uighur autonomous region of Xinjiang in the far west; claimed to be a hotbed of separatism by the Chinese authorities.
From stealthy to sneaky
Song Bifeng, a university professor in Shaanxi leads the spy bird program, code-named “Dove” which has seen him honored by the nation’s military. Prior to this, he was a senior scientist working on China’s very own stealth jet, the Chengdu J-20.
Inspired by the efficiency of a bird in flight, the “Dove” is claimed to be able to replicate 90 percent of a bird’s wing movement, being able to flap it’s own wings to maneuver in the air. This results in less noise produced and movement so lifelike that even other birds are fooled into flying alongside them.
Perhaps, also inspired by Saruman and his use of ravens to spy on his enemies, the team further states that these spy drones would be hard to detect even by the most sensitive radar systems. Especially so, once they are upgraded with real feathers and deployed to fly among real birds.
Conclusion
China is not be the only country to develop bird drones. A Dutch tech company made one to mimic a bird of prey to deter other birds away from airports and farms – although this flying cat, also from the Netherlands could probably achieve the same results.
Another team in Germany has developed one purely for scientific research. Nonetheless, China’s robo-birds may be the first developed by a country to spy on it’s own populace. And may it be the last.
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